


And Peace Attend Thee

by Wix



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Gen, Hurt Tony Stark, Implied/Referenced Mind Control, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Sokovia Accords, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, delusional characters, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 07:11:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14806731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wix/pseuds/Wix
Summary: The team realizes that certain actions must be taken to protect the Avengers from one of their own. Steve just wishes that it didn't have to come to this.





	And Peace Attend Thee

**Author's Note:**

> Authors Note: So this was an idea I just had and decided to type up. Pay attention to the tags guys!
> 
> Oh, and I believe 'Try to Remember' was the song Maria Stark was playing on the piano in Tony's memory.

_Most people are good and occasionally do something they know is bad._

_Some people are bad and struggle every day to keep it under control._

_Others are corrupt to the core and don’t give a crap, as long as they don’t get caught._

_But evil is a completely different creature,_

_Evil is bad that believes it is good._

_-Karen Marie Moning_

+++

It’s rather easy to sneak back into New York despite each and every law enforcement agency looking for them. Between Natasha and Clint’s skills at keeping low, and Wanda for any time those skills don’t work – the Avengers return to the states with very few complications. It’s a little sooner than Steve would have wanted to return, and certainly not under the current situation and with the plan that they have in motion, but T’Challa has forced their hand almost as much as a certain billionaire has.

The news of Tony Stark’s return from Siberia and his hospitalization after the fact has been something that the news casters have had a field day with. Tony’s camp hasn’t stepped in front of the accusations, and hasn’t offered any helpful assistance with the world that’s so quickly being blinded by the bias of those in power with hidden agendas that Steve could almost smack his head into a wall in frustration.

_“We need to get in front of this Steve.” Natasha said as they lounged in the living area that the king had permitted them. “We need Tony, whether we like it or not we need him and he’s not going to help us.”_

_“What do you want me to do? I sent him an apology and he hasn’t called me back.”_

_“Think of something Steve,” Clint interjects, “because the blood is in the water now and the sharks are coming. If we don’t get Stark to pull us back into the boat we’re fucked.”_

_“…I might have a suggestion.” Wanda says and they all turn to look at her._

The penthouse still has the same codes as before, and Natasha is able to bring down FRIDAY’s security matrix in seconds. They’re lucky that the trust that the brunet used to have for them is still in effect in some ways as they climb the stairs to get to the correct floor. Steve can’t help the random thought that no building needs to be this tall, but he pushes it back to keep his mind on the mission.

They know Tony’s been released from the hospital. They had intended to visit him there, but Clint came back with the information that he’d just been cleared an hour prior and had all but fled the healing establishment. A frustrating game of cat and mouse started shortly after that since Tony couldn’t just be normal and return to the Compound – no he had to fall off the radar for a few hours before Natasha placed him at the old penthouse that once housed the Avengers before Ultron destroyed it and brought forth a need for the Avengers Compound in the first place.

_“We need to catch him before Potts manages to get a clear answer from him for a statement to the press. If he gets a statement out – we’re screwed.” Clint tells them over the small coffee shop table and they nod._

_“We’ve got a small window of opportunity and we need to not waste it.” Steve tells them. “We need to find Tony before he has a chance to make a mistake that he’ll regret.”_

Getting the door open with the security system down is still a lot harder than it has any right to be, but they shuffle in quietly the moment they open it. The hallways are dark, the lights are off and Steve wonders for a brief moment if Tony has left again before he hears the sounds of a piano key being tapped on over and over again. He makes a motion with his hand and gestures for them all to start down the hallway towards where the noise is coming from.

The whole situation reminds Steve a little of the old SHIELD missions that he used to undertake with the Strike team and Natasha before everything started falling apart. He holds up a hand for them to wait as he inches closer and takes a look into the room.

Tony’s sitting in the dark at the giant baby grand piano, a drink in one hand and pressing down on the keys as if checking to see that they still work with the other. Steve almost gives up his position at the sheer idiocy of the man to be drinking after being released so soon from the hospital, but he holds it back. He glances around the rest of the room to see if anyone else is in the area before they go to make their move when Tony puts down the glass and puts his fingers to the keys.

Steve didn’t know that he could play piano.

 _“Try to remember, the kind of September…”_ Tony’s voice is melancholic and deeply sad as he sings through the words. “ _When life was slow, and oh so mellow. Try to remember, the kind of September, when grass was green and grain so yellow.”_ There’s something painful in those lyrics that Steve isn’t certain how to unravel but it makes him feel like he’s seeing a side of the brunet that he’s not supposed to be witnessing. Like somehow seeing Tony like this is worse than why they’ve come to seek him out tonight.

Tony’s fingers glide across the piano keys and his voice echoes around the should-be empty area and Steve can’t do anything but be temporarily entranced by it. It’s more emotion than Steve thinks he’s ever seen Tony show a day in his life, and Steve thinks that it would have suited Tony better to lead with this kind of vulnerability then with the ‘billionaire, playboy, philanthropist’ act he chooses to lead with. Maybe if Tony had been upfront with them, maybe if he had shown them that he was actually capable of normal human emotions – then the Avengers wouldn’t have crumbled down around them like they did.

An irrational anger races through Steve at that realization. If Tony had just shown this side of himself to them then everything would have been different. Everything would have worked out, but no – he’d had to be in control and he had to let everyone else know it. The smartest – and yet the dumbest – man in the room.

Steve waits till Tony finishes the song, waits till his fingers leave the keys to wrap around the glass of amber liquid before he steps out.

He’s not sure what he’s expecting when Tony lays eyes on him. He’s figured anger, or some kind of posturing from the brunet, what he doesn’t count on is the exhaustion that seems written into the lines around the brunet’s eyes. What he isn’t expecting is the absolute _lack_ of response as Tony just brings the glass to his lips and takes a drink.

“Tony.” Natasha says, stepping out from behind him and Tony’s eyes flicker to the spy, and then to the group behind her who are starting to file into the room themselves. “You don’t look so good. Are you sure you should be drinking?” Natasha’s words voice the concern that Steve had earlier and Tony just shakes his head, putting the glass back down on top of the piano tray.

“You don’t look surprised.” Sam says and Tony shrugs.

“Did you expect me to be?” He asks and Sam mimics Tony’s earlier action.

“I guess, a little.” Sam responds and Tony glances back at the piano keys, running his fingers over them for a second before he reaches up and pulls the lid closed.

“I figured I’d be seeing you sooner or later.” Tony tells them. “Especially when Ross told me about the breakout at the RAFT.”

“Angry your prison couldn’t hold us?” Clint sneers at Tony and Tony just sighs.

“Not my prison.” He says before he looks up at them, and it’s the first time he makes eye contact with Steve. “So I guess we should just get to the point. What brings you by?”

“Why do you think we’re here?” Natasha responds, trying to control the situation and Tony shrugs.

“I’ve got theories, none of them good, but it is what it is.” Tony replies to her. “So I guess I’m just curious which way this is going to go. There isn’t much I can do to stop you, I’m not really in the condition to pilot the suit as you’re all well aware and I’d rather avoid a repeat of Germany if at all possible.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you Stark?” Clint snaps at the front that Tony’s putting on for them, and Tony glances in his direction.

“Just tired Barton…Just tired.” Is Tony’s soft reply and it clenches a little around Steve’s heart in something that feels slightly like guilt.

“We came to talk.” Steve says, momentarily considering a secondary option to their original mission. If Tony’s willing to work with them now, then there’s no reason to go to extremes to ensure it.

“Forgive me for pointing it out, but you don’t look like you’re here to talk Rogers.” Tony tells him and Steve adjusts his grip on the new shield that T’Challa gave him before he kicked them out of Wakanda.

“And what do we look like?” Natasha asks and Tony shrugs, reaching for the glass again and taking another sip before putting it down. It’s a power play, Steve’s recognizing it, answering when Tony feels like it and choosing the pace of their interactions.

“You look like you’re getting ready to face down the Red Skull himself. I don’t know if I should be honored or annoyed.” Tony says before glancing back at them. “But I know the look you all get when you’re facing down an enemy and…” He motions to them as if saying ‘and there it is’. “So I guess I’m just waiting to see what your move is.”

“The world needs the Avengers Tony.” Steve tells the other man, and Steve tries to ignore how the words sound like an apology. “We can’t let you destroy us.”

“I have no intention of getting involved in whatever it is the lot of you do next.” Tony tells him. “Go topple some governments, spread the gospel of Steve ‘A Supposedly Good Man’ Rogers – I don’t care. I have no intention of dealing with any of you anymore.”

“That’s all good in theory Stark, but when your precious Accords tells you to come fuck us over you’ll do it in a heartbeat and with a fucking smile. We’re not buying this whole bullshit ‘woe is me’ act you’ve got going on here.” Clint snaps and Tony glances at him and there’s something in his eyes like he’s seeing Clint for the first time and he doesn’t like what he sees.

“Iron Man is retired.” Tony replies to that and Steve feels about as much surprise as the others vocalize.

“What do you mean Iron Man is retired?” Steve asks him and Tony holds up his hand to show a small amount of shaking in the fingers.

“No longer physically capable of piloting the armor. Too much abuse these last few weeks.” Tony tells him and although the tone is like Tony’s just discussing the weather, Steve can’t help but figure Tony’s trying to lay the blame at their feet.

“If you hadn’t fought us, none of this would have happened.” Steve tells him and Tony shrugs again.

“True.” Tony agrees with him. “But that’s apparently how the cookie has chosen to crumble. Iron Man is retired and I no longer take orders from the Sokovia Accords Council. If you want to deal with them, I wish you the best of luck.”

“We need your help.” Natasha says and Tony shakes his head with a soft chuckle.

“Oh, I’m aware of that. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.” Tony tells her. “But I’m curious as to where this conversation is going to go now. The theories I had are starting to narrow.”

“We need you to speak out in favor of the Avengers. You need to fix your mistakes, you don’t get to come into our sandbox and fuck shit up and then step back and claim you’ve got nothing to do with it.” Clint tells him and Tony tilts his head a little.

“Come into ‘your’ sandbox? And here I mistakenly thought it was ‘our’ sandbox.”

“You were never one of us Stark.” Wanda growls, speaking for the first time and Tony glances at her. Steve’s ready to step in, to handle the vitriol and the blame that Tony is undoubtedly going to throw at Wanda’s and the rest of their feet…when Tony just nods.

“Agreed.” He says and it unmoors Steve. Tony was one of them once, before he got it in his head that he needed to control them to sate his own guilty conscience. He was one of them until his ego determined that he wouldn’t be satisfied with just being one of them, he had to own them. “That aside, I think we all know that I’m not going to ‘speak out in favor of the Avengers’.”

“It’s the least you could do after all the bullshit you’ve put us through.” Clint tells him and Tony shakes his head.

“I refuse to speak out in your defense for your actions. You all made choices, choices that I did not approve of and still don’t approve of, and you have all landed yourselves in hot water because of them. I wasn’t responsible for it and I’m not going to come in and ‘fix’ it for you.”

“Tony, be reasonable.” Steve tries to plead with him, tries to hold onto the opportunity of a peaceful result to this situation. “You can stay retired, we won’t drag you back. We can go on as it was.”

“You mean where I funded you, housed you, and outfitted the lot of you?” Tony asks in that annoyingly calm voice. “You still want my money and my power, yet you want nothing to do with me. These two things don’t sound like they’re going to be possible anymore.”

“Tony, please reconsider.” Steve pleads and Tony looks him in the eyes and it feels like he’s looking through him, seeing into his mind.

“I see.” Tony says after a moment. “So that’s where this is going.”

“What the fuck are you talking about Stark?” Clint snaps and Tony glances at Wanda.

“Theories.” He says cryptically, a throwback to his earlier statement. “Just theories Barton.” Tony takes a deep breath before his dark eyes land on Steve again. “I’ll admit to being a tiny bit surprised. I mean, I’d considered this possibility, but I’d labeled it as a near impossibility with your own history coming into play.” _He knows_ , is the thought that goes through Steve’s mind and he adjusts his grip again.

“I don’t like it Tony, I don’t like it at all.” Steve tells him. “And we can avoid it, if you would let us.”

“So I’m allowed to retain my ‘free will’, but only if I do exactly what you say?” Tony questions and Steve looks away.

“It’s not like that.”

“Of course it is.” Tony replies. “But I know the look of someone who has already justified ‘whatever the means’ to themselves, so let’s not pretend that this is anything other than what it is.”

“You brought this on yourself Stark.” Wanda tells him, red starting to pool at her fingers. “You did this.”

“I’ll admit to being curious to one final thing, if I’m allowed to ask.” Tony says, ignoring Wanda and looking at Steve. Steve takes a second before he nods for Tony to continue and he’s already regretting it the moment he does. “If Wanda rewrites my mind to do whatever it is that you want done, how do you think that’s going to play out? What makes you think that I haven’t already made myself clear to others outside of this room?”

“You haven’t been in touch with Potts or Rhodes.” Natasha tells Tony, and it sounds like she’s saying checkmate. “A change of heart after such an ordeal, wanting your friends back after all of this makes perfect sense. No one will look closer.”

“Perhaps.” Tony agrees, but his eyes haven’t left Steve and they feel like they’re strangling him. “So that’s it then? Wanda will retain control of me for the rest of my natural life? Or will I have an ‘unfortunate accident’ once you’ve all gotten everything you want from me.”

“You don’t kill the golden goose Stark.” Clint says with a roll of his eyes and Steve notices how that phrase makes Tony flinch for a second.

“Golden goose?” Tony repeats. “Huh, I guess someone else wants one last golden egg from me. The last guy only took out my heart with his bare hands and I thought that was the cruelest thing he could do. Now you’re here with the intention of taking my mind and I’m realizing that maybe Obie wasn’t so bad. At least he was upfront about being what he was, he didn’t play the martyr.” Tony reaches out and drains the last of the glass with a soft chuckle and a shake of his head. “What’s funny, is that you all stand there like _I’m_ the devil and you’ll walk out of here with your little Tony puppet and somehow you’ll go on thinking that.”

“You forced our hand Tony.” Steve tells him with as much kindness as he possibly can. “And we’re not going to kill you. Wanda’s just going to make a few changes, she’s not turning you into a puppet. I’d never do to someone what Hydra did to Bucky.”

“…I’ll admit that the subtle nuances of the difference between what you’re here to do and what they did escape me, but I’d rather not have you explain it to me if these are to be the last moments of my life”

“Don’t be so dramatic Stark, we’ve already said we’re not killing you.” Sam says and he’s got that awkward shuffle to him again, like he’s slowly doubting the mission.

“But you are. You’re killing me and replacing it with a version of ‘Tony Stark’ that will do whatever it is that you want from me. Don’t fool yourselves and please don’t lie to me. Whatever is in this body once she’s done with me will not be me anymore. You can pretend that it is all you want, but that is the truth.”

“We never wanted it to come to this Tony.” Steve tells him, and the brunet glances back at him. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“It’s worth nothing Rogers.” Tony retorts. “But that’s not going to change your mind.”

“Wanda.” Steve says and he steps aside as the girl steps forward. “You know what to do.” She nods and looks at Tony, the red surrounding her becoming more pronounced.

“Goodbye Stark.” She says with a small amount of glee and Tony, foolish to the end, gives her an almost friendly smile.

“Goodbye Maximoff.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm not sure if this has another chapter, but for right now it is as it is. 
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment but NO comments of a critiquing/negative/argumentative nature. Thank you.


End file.
